Preferances

[palleomortis]

Hey, does any one else seem to have these problems at their table?

"No, wait, you did that wrong."
"WHAT? WHY?"
"Are you sure that goes with this skill?"
"I'm not dead, HE is!"
"I rolled,... 17, no wait...It's an 18."

Ten min. aruments break out every five min.
Saving rolles are suddenly double.
A joke is taken as a life threat.
They attack 10 level creatures at level 1, and wonder why they died.
A joke is heard more often than the game or the dm.

Any one else have these problems?

 

[deltadave]

If this bugs you, start instilling some discipline at the table. For rolls - make people roll in the open and leave the die until the results are resolved. If they fail to do so, then institute a 'rolled 5' rule - ie the lost roll is counted as a 5.

I don't tolerate rules arguments during the game. Select a player who is not directly involved in the current events to look up the rule while moving on to another player. when the proper rule is found go back to the events, using the same rolls and circumstances - do not allow the player to revise his actions unless there is a radically different result expected. If it is a judgement call, the DM has final say and any further argument is punished by XP penalties.

Occasional jokes are ok as are quotes or other kinds of fun, but players may not mock one another or the DM in a negative way. If it gets out of hand, make the players put 'moose horns' (put their thumbs on the sides of their head with fingers spread) on when they are speaking out of character. Anything said without the moose horns is considered said in character with the appropriate consequences.

Not all of this is going to be the result of the players - examine your own actions as DM to be sure that you aren't contributing to the problem.

 

[palleomortis]

NICE. I like the moose horn thing you got goin' there. The xp penalty is harsh, but if it works, then yea. One problem that I have with DM'ing is that I am either Boiling or freezing. I either want a strait forward game, or a game of jokes and tricks. This wouldn't be so bad if I am usually in a laid back mood, and my DM's mood is more strict. You should here the things that get put into context by our jokes. good times. By the way, I like your little bit aboute trama there.

 

[deltadave]

The sig line came from a real game situation. The player started laughing out loud, until he noticed me looking at him with a straight face, he said 'you're serious, aren't you?' Then put his head in his hands. The other players had all been around quite a bit longer and none of them laughed at all... Was one of my crowning moments as a DM, I knew I had gotten inside this players head and really gotten him into the game.

 

[Corlon]

I've had this problem so many times...then I did a complete makeover and chopped it down to a group of 3 friends plus me with a very deep yet easy to understand and interact in world.

It's worked wonders...oh yeah, that and cutting off to play basket ball or go see a movie or somethign as soon as the attention span starts to wane (generally cuts sessions to like 2-4 hours).

This hinges on my gaming group being some of my close friends, and I'm not trying to draw any conclusions aobut ur dming or gaming group, but that's what did it for me.

That whole penalty thing sounds good, but they may become apathetic and ust love to keep rolling up new characters and throwing them against high level monsters...

Oh yeah, about the high level monsters, if they kill themselves on a bi-weekly basis, perhaps you should just give them a lot of challenges they can overcome, and then slowly reveal the more powerful creatures that they cannot in fact kill.

 

[palleomortis]

sounds like fun? what did you do when you won?

 

[Microanus]

How did your problem get resolved? I have similar issues. Just want to stop the fighting ALL NIGHT LONG

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

How did your problem get resolved? I have similar issues. Just want to stop the fighting ALL NIGHT LONG

I believe a huge part of it stems from simply not giving players what they're expecting. If you were to ask them whether they want to play or just ARGUE about playing I sincerely doubt any of them will vote for arguing. You need to speak with everyone at the table. Ask them what kind of game they really want. Ask them how important it is to stick VERY strictly to the rules as written. Ask them what THEY will agree to tolerate as far as arguing against the DM before they get told to just SHUT UP. Tell them YOU are there to play and a 10 minute argument helps NOBODY - including the one doing the arguing.

If players have an objection to something they should interrupt, CONCISELY state the nature of their objection, let the DM think it over again, let the DM rule. If the player STILL objects then the DM can allow anyone interested to find additional ammunition for their argument - but they do it while it is NOT their turn and the game moves on. LATER ON, the player can bring the subject up again when it won't be bringing the game to a dead stop. EVERYONE agrees to abide by this as well as enforce it on the others.